Crescent Rose Daycare
by Faerie of the Moon
Summary: Have you ever wanted to drop your Pokemon off at a daycare and pick them back up without them having battled without you? Or maybe you just want to drop your Pokemon off to make some new friends? Maybe your Pokemon have a tendency to get sick and the Pokemon Center is too crowded? Well, if any of these apply to you Crescent Rose Daycare is perfect for you. ALT names used at times.
1. A Mystery Gift!

**So in my quest for motivation, I was randomly inspired to write Arthur running a Pokemon daycare and chose Aleksandr (Russia) to run it with him. I have made some adjustments to the world of Pokemon as it fits the way I think it would be if it were real, but nothing too drastic. Just imagine the world that matches the Adventures mangas rather than the games or the shows. Any major changes will be mentioned in notes as they are relevant!**

 **Please read and enjoy!**

"Arthur! Can you please come out back and help with this Dragonite?" Aleksandr called from outside the building.

It was never good if Aleksandr needed help with a Pokémon. After a few years of working the daycare, he had most issues managed. Then again, dragons were a special case and famously stubborn at times. Arthur leaned out the open half-door with a raised eyebrow. "The Dragonite? It's so calm, though."

Looking tired, Aleksandr could only sigh and hold a syringe out to Arthur. "It refuses to take the medication. Even with Flygon around. Seems like one for your special touch."

Arthur sighed as well and took the medicine, pulling the door open the rest of the way. "Just stubborn, probably. Any other problem children today? I don't think we're getting any visitors." And if they did, Aleksandr's Noctowl would let them know as always.

"No, the rest of them have been cooperative and nice enough. Some a little too nice for their sizes," he said with a slight laugh. They both had bruises from overly affectionate and oversized Pokémon, so that was nothing new.

"Oh, I'm sure." Arthur was still sporting bruises on his legs from Gilbert's Lairon. It may not have been very tall, but it was still 250 pounds and steel. Its affection was painful. "At least they've settled down from last week…"

Aleksandr could only grimace at the thought. Despite the number of Pokémon they regularly had at the daycare, it wasn't normally hectic. But when a Zangoose snuck in to pick a fight with one of their Sevipers, chaos erupted for the end of the week. It was safe to say, security was updated after that nightmare.

While Arthur went over to treat the Dragonite, Aleksandr was distracted by a pack of Houndooms. They probably had too many Pokémon there for two people, but their own Pokémon made an effort to help and wrangle them as well.

A perfect example was Arthur's Flygon―usually an attraction for passerby, due to being "shiny"―taking charge of the other dragons. With a natural protective and caring disposition, it became the de facto leader of the daycare.

"So what's going on over here? You know you need to take this to get better, Dragonite," Arthur said as he walked over to the Dragonite. It was lying down, curled up in fatigue. It hurt him to see Pokémon sick, even after running the daycare for so long.

The Dragonite groaned and lifted its head up to look at Arthur. When dealing with sick Pokémon, there was always the concern of them lashing out―especially dragons―but Arthur wasn't worried in the least. It certainly helped having Flygon there.

"Don't give me that." Patting Dragonite's nose, Arthur idly spun the syringe in his hand. "Would you rather be sick or have a little bit of pain for just a moment?" When he got a sigh in response, he smiled a little bit. "It won't hurt that much, I promise."

The problem with treating dragons was the scales. With the best medicine being administered by a needle, the thick scales really posed an issue. Not every dragon had scales, fortunately, but Dragonite still had thick skin. It was a pain the first time to find a "soft" spot.

Now, though, it was pretty simple for Dragonite to simply stretch its arm out for him. After administering the shot, Arthur made sure to sit down and spend some time comforting the sick Pokémon.

He ended up sighing when Flygon moved over and rested its head in his lap. "Yes, you big child… Feel free to join in." Some large Pokémon had the weight to back up the height. It was good for Arthur's sake that Flygon wasn't one of them. With a full foot over him, it could've easily had the weight to crush him, but it didn't.

It was only ten minutes later, though, that Noctowl called out to them. It was the benefit of having a Pokémon with such high hearing; it could be in the far back of the garden and still hear people coming down the road.

Arthur had to nudge Flygon's head off of him before standing. It was his turn to check people in and manage the front desk. Never his favorite task by far, but it was only fair. Neither of them were social butterflies with other people. Pokémon were completely different.

The bell was already ringing when Arthur had walked back to the front room. He rolled his eyes and briefly patted Aleksandr's Mareep in passing. "Yes, Marshall, I bloody hear you. What is it this time?" he asked.

"Hey, Arthur, nice to see you too," Marshall snickered. He wasn't a bad person; just too hyper and buddy-buddy for Arthur. Even after having him come by for so long.

"I suppose…"

"You know, I really hope you're just messing with me," he snorted, raising an eyebrow.

After a moment, Arthur shrugged with a faint smile. "Well, it's always something with you. And you don't look injured, so I'm not sure what to expect of your Pokémon."

"Nah. Nothing bad this time. We're all good," Marshall stated with a grin. "Just got a weird one for you."

Arthur scoffed and crossed his arms. "You're fine, but you have something weird. I'm not sure I like how that sounds."

Shaking his head, Marshall started rummaging around in a much bigger bag than he normally brought. "Dude, I'm serious. Look at this," he said, setting something out on the counter.

Arthur wasn't sure what he had expected, but an egg wasn't the first thing that came to mind. "You have an egg… I sincerely hope you didn't pluck that out of the wild somewhere…" It sounded like a dumb thing Marshall would do. Completely disregarding the world around him like that―innocently, but stupid nonetheless.

"No! I'm not that dumb," Marshall scoffed. "I got it from my mom when she came to visit. But, uh… I know there's no way I can take care of an egg, so… I was hoping you guys could?"

After thinking it over―eggs were not as simple to care for as people thought―Arthur sighed and leaned on the counter. "I suppose we could… It'll cost you a lot of money, though. Do you have any idea what Pokémon it is?"

"None. Like zip. She just handed it over and refused to tell me. It could be a freaking Mankey for all I know."

That was the last thing they needed; a baby Mankey terrorizing the daycare in three or four months. "Oh, god… Alright, it's going to cost you ₽50 a day. So probably… ₽6,000 by the time it's hatched. Think you can afford that?"

Marshall grimaced and hesitated, but nodded. "Ah, yeah… That's… pretty steep, but I'll save up for it."

Normally, he'd ask for at least half up front, but… Marshall was a good enough person that Arthur was going to give him the credit. "Alright. Just make sure you keep in touch with me. Got it?" he asked, running a hand over the egg to check for damage. He didn't even blink at the sudden appearance of his Banette.

Marshall flinched, however, and stalled. He never was a fan of ghosts. Yet he loved all other "scary" Pokémon. "Erm… Y-yeah… No problem, Arthur. So… are we good…? I gotta run to the Pokémon Center to meet up with Kiku."

Arthur snorted a little bit. His "little" crush couldn't be more obvious. Even to Arthur―which was sad. "Yeah, yeah. Go on and have fun on your date," he teased, picking the egg up to leave, smiling as Banette waves to Marshall.

"It's not a date!" he groaned, rolling his eyes and promptly making his exit. His ridiculously red face spoke to the contrary, though. At least the possibility that it could end up being something more.

Passing Aleksandr in the hall, Arthur went to place the egg in a special incubator they set up last year. It didn't get much use, since most people let the Pokémon hatch the eggs, but it did what it was meant to.

"He brought us an egg?" Aleksandr asked, confusion evident on his face. He couldn't wrap his head around how Marshall would get his hands on an egg. It wasn't like finding some stray change on the street.

Arthur shrugged while preparing the incubator and egg. "Apparently it's a gift from his mother. A mystery gift. So we can only wait and see what ends up hatching."

"That sounds like a disaster. Can you imagine if it's another Taurus? I'm concerned enough with him having one out of control Pokémon," Aleksandr sighed. Not necessarily for Marshall, but the people around him. Especially since he wasn't very good at keeping his Pokémon calm.

"I can only hope it's a Happiny or something equally harmless," Arthur snorted. Though a Blissey could fuck someone up, despite appearances. The memory of a Blissey bitch slapping a biker would forever be ingrained in his brain for a good laugh.

"Or maybe a Slowpoke." After helping Arthur get the egg settled in and safe, Aleksandr asked him, "So the Dragonite let you treat it?"

"Yes. It didn't take much convincing," Arthur said, leaning against the wall in the hallway. Catching Banette was a passive action and he didn't think much of the clingy ghost in his arms. "Are you sure you didn't just give up too soon?"

"No, of course not. You just still have a way with them―dragons especially―that I don't," Aleksandr chuckled. "Case in point that Banette won't let anyone touch it but us. And you're the only one allowed to actually hold it."

But, all things brought into consideration, that wasn't surprising. At least to Arthur. "That's different. I grew up with Banette. That Dragonite was tired and a little grumpy, maybe, but not throwing a fit." Thank god for that. There was nothing more destructive than a dragon going on a rampage. Except for a Gyrados… They still had weird patches on their roof from the repairs.

Aleksandr shook his head. "No, but trust me. It wasn't having any part of me giving it the shot. I wouldn't have bothered you if it was cooperating."

Which was a given. It just caught him odd after treating the Dragonite. But Pokémon were fickle enough that he wasn't going to worry about it. "Right, of course… It just caught me odd. So what's the plan for the day, then? That's all the treatments, right?"

"Mhh-hmm. Everyone's fed, treated, and generally happy. I think today's going to be just keeping an eye on them all," Aleksandr said. "They've been pretty well behaved except for the Pawniard. But that's…"

"A given," Arthur sighed. Some things were just natural for Pokémon. And sometimes that included picking fights. It just meant that they had to keep an eye on certain ones and prepare mediators.

"Mh… I have Mawile keeping an eye on it for now. That should be fine until it's picked up Thursday." It was a fight started, but not necessarily a major problem. There were some things that were bound to happen. Fights, accidents, bonding… There was never any way to predict what would happen with such a large group of Pokémon.

And then there were times when a client's Skuntank decided it didn't want to be there anymore and fouled up half the garden. Hearing the various cries of offended Pokémon, Arthur stalled and looked out the window. "Oh, God… Okay, I think it's your turn to bathe the Luxio. I'll get the Cubone and Golbat…"

Aleksandr grimaced and groaned a sigh. There was no worse smell he could think of, or such hell as bathing an electric Pokémon. But it had to be done or the entire daycare would turn disgusting.


	2. Visitors

**So I had a plan for this chapter that didn't end up happening. Because my world building ended up going on longer than I thought, my idea got pushed back to chapter 3. The good side of this means that I already know what I'm doing for the next chapter. Not that that means it'll come out any faster. To be completely blunt, I don't have a lot of motivation recently. I have tons of inspiration, just no motivation.**

 **ANYWAY, fair warning that Romania has an alternative name here; Atanase. And, you know, basically nothing happens in this chapter. But that's fine; this story is supposed to be for character interaction. Also, I use Bulbapedia for a lot of information and formatting in terms of "Do I capitalize this or not?" Just in case anyone ever wonders.**

 **Now that I'm done rambling, read and enjoy!**

Arthur yawned and wiped sleep out of his eyes. He never really enjoyed waking up early, even if his body was used to it by then. Aleksandr wasn't a morning person, either, but at least he wasn't sitting in the back with the Pokémon and dozing off. Morning rounds were a slow process.

While Aleksandr was going around and handing out food, Arthur was sitting under a tree with Munna in his lap and a Buneary on his head. Banette would have been hanging out as well, but it was a miracle to see it moving around before noon.

"Well, Buneary certainly looks happier and healthier now," a voice stated with amusement, snapping Arthur out of his drifting.

"Hm? Ah, Marceau…" The owner of said Buneary, of course, was the smiling man standing in front of him. Marceau was also one of the few that Aleksandr and Arthur trusted to allow into the grounds behind the house. He had been dropping his Pokémon off enough that he understood how things worked. "Yeah, she recovered earlier than I expected," Arthur said, glancing up at the sleepy Pokémon on his head.

"And is still as clingy," Marceau chuckled, making himself comfortable next to Arthur. He had no qualms with reaching up to scratch behind Buneary's ears. He knew Arthur didn't like people in his space, but it was hard to get around his Pokémon napping on his head.

Arthur tensed a little bit, but relaxed on feeling and hearing Buneary wake up. It seemed more than happy to see Marceau again, bouncing off of Arthur's head and into Marceau's arms. Arthur swore, kicked to the side by the strong kick. Munna was only mildly disturbed and escaped being squished under him.

Marceau laughed, holding Buneary in his lap. "Ah… Still don't know your own strength, do you?" Rather than being sheepish or amused, Buneary simply seemed confused. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Arthur sighed, sitting back up. "A little Buneary isn't going to hurt me." At least not any worse than the rest of the daycare. "How was your trip? You went to Johto, right?"

"Mhh-hmm. It was nice. Inspiring. Especially Azelea Town and Ecruteak City with their towers." It was a wonder he hadn't travelled to Johto before.

Arthur snorted a little bit. "Oh, and the Slowpoke, I'm sure."

"Maybe not the Slowpoke," Marceau laughed. "Do you not take me seriously, though? About the towers. I don't think you've ever said if you've left Hoenn."

"I haven't," Arthur said simply. "I'm sure the Bell Tower was beautiful. I was just giving you shit." He would like to take a trip out of the region, but it was hard to manage with the daycare. With Sinnoh being his ideal destination, he would want to go with Aleksandr.

Curious now, Marceau moved to get a better view of Arthur. It was always frustrating to sit on the side of his long bangs. It made it hard to see his face. "Well… If you could go anywhere, where would you travel to? Outside of Hoenn, of course." It might have been presumptuous, but he figured a curious and well-experienced person like Arthur had travelled all over his home region.

Sighing, Arthur thought. "Sinnoh, I think, would be the easiest. Celestic Town or Sunyshore City…"

"Hmm… I didn't say easiest, though," Marceau pointed out.

"Tch… I don't know. I've never really thought about travelling before."

"Arthur, you know I'm not going to believe that. Everyone has thought about going to a different region at least once."

If anywhere in the world was an option, then he really only had one answer. "Have you heard of the White Forest in Unova?" he asked Marceau.

"Mh, in passing maybe. Nothing substantial."

"It's supposedly a haven for Pokémon. Completely untouched by human hands and guarded by the Forces of Nature," Arthur explained. "It's basically a sanctuary. We try to build these types of safe places for Pokémon with the safaris, but all those end up doing is allowing the Pokémon to be captured like some sort of cheap prize. White Forest is as close to a paradise as Pokémon can get."

It was such an earnest explanation that it brought a smile to Marceau's face. He knew that, with strangers, Arthur had a hard exterior and didn't trust easily. He turned into a complete softy with Pokémon, though. It was something that always made Marceau wonder about his childhood. "That sounds lovely. I can only imagine how happy the Pokémon there must be."

"I know… We try to make everything as comfortable and ideal as possible for our Pokémon, but… There's only so much we can do," he said. They had built various small houses and shelters for the Pokémon after buying more land to expand on, leased out part of the river for the large water Pokémon, and planted so many trees. They made the most of what they had available. But was it enough?

"Oh, Arthur. Your Pokémon and charges are as happy as can be possible. You two bust your asses to take care of all these Pokémon," Marceau told him, smiling.

"Ah, yeah…" It still felt like his Pokémon did so much more for him.

The early morning was always slow; Aleksandr wasn't even expecting Marceau yet. Not that it was particularly shocking he would show up ahead of schedule. Most likely, he wanted an excuse to hang out with Arthur. Which didn't make Aleksandr all that happy, but he knew Arthur was more than capable of handling himself.

Considering, though, that they already had one early morning visitor, he really wasn't expecting a second one. Even half asleep, it made him a little happy. "Morning, Aleksandr. How're things going here?" Atanase asked, leaning his elbows on the front desk after pushing his sunglasses on top of his head.

"Slow and sleepy, so far. Overall a good morning. What're you doing back in Hoenn so soon?" Aleksandr asked, setting his book down. "Did Natalia come with you?"

"She did, but you know her; can't be bothered walking the routes this early," Atanase chuckled. Then, to answer his first question, he said, "Mostly, Natalia wants to visit Meteor Falls to look for more inspiration. But there's also a charity event over in Slateport."

"Ah. I heard a little bit about that. A contest, right?" It wasn't too surprising. He knew Atanase had done all sorts of performances when he still lived in Unova.

"Yeah. It's supposed to raise money for the clean up efforts around Fallarbor," Atanase explained, idly tapping his nails on the counter. The sunlight creeping in made the color transition between black, red, and blue. "It's been pretty low-key so far, but I imagine people will start talking soon enough."

"I can't imagine Natalia is that happy about it, though," Aleksandr said with a knowing smile. She didn't show much emotion, but she was never glad to deal with crowds of Atanase's fans.

"When is she ever?" he snorted. "I just hope it won't be a repeat of what happened in Hearthome. That was a damn disaster if nothing else was. I think she's a little more prepared this time, though."

"Hopefully. I'm actually not dreading this one, so it'd be nice if it went well," he yawned.

After looking his friend over for a moment, Aleksandr couldn't miss how tired he looked. He knew that Atanase and Natalia had busy schedules. But it looked like it had been worse recently. Losing sleep, even. "Are you two taking time off after this?" Aleksandr asked. "I'm sure if Natalia is working on a new line then you'll be helping her."

"That's the plan. But it doesn't always work out that way. I still have another six months with my batshit crazy manager, so who's to say what I'll be signed up for." People always talked about hindsight being 20/20 and that was never more true than looking back at contracts.

"I'm surprised Natalia hasn't done something about that…" Not that there was much she could do. They'd looked into breaking the contract and it would cost an absurd amount of money.

"Yes, well… It is what it is. All that aside, I have free tickets for you and Arthur to the charity event," Atanase said, changing the subject as he pulled the tickets from his jacket. Most of the people who knew Arthur knew that he wasn't a fan of battling, but contests could be a different matter entirely. Assuming people took care of their Pokémon properly, he had no problems with it at all.

Blinking, Aleksandr wondered if Atanase paid for the tickets or if the organizers were actually handing out free tickets. "Ah, well… I'm not sure how we'd manage going with the daycare…" It wasn't impossible, but it wasn't something they did very often.

"The Pokémon are plenty smart. I'm sure they can take care of each other for a few hours," Atanase smiled. "Especially with your Pokémon running the show. Flygon and Noctowl could manage most of it by themselves." He'd never seen more responsible Pokémon in his life.

They'd done it before… "I'll… have to talk Arthur into going to Slateport, but… I suppose we can manage it." Looking at the tickets, it seemed that they had the better part of two weeks to prepare. More than enough.

Nodding, Atanase suggested, "In the meantime, how about coming down for lunch today? It'd be a nice surprise for Natalia."

She didn't really like surprises very much, but that would be one thing that would work. "Yeah, I can do that. Where were you planning on?"

"The Lighthouse Cafe."

Aleksandr snorted and raised an eyebrow. "You think you can get Natalia to eat in the kind of sun Slateport gets? You can message me when she shoots the idea down."

"I've done it before," he chuckled. "I'll see you later today, then. I've got to go to an early rehearsal."

"Have a good morning. Try not to work yourself too hard," Aleksandr told him.

"Until we're in-laws, you have no standing to nag me," Atanase quipped, sliding his glasses down on his way out. "See you later."

Aleksandr shook his head with a wry smile. It would be a long time before Atanase worked up the nerve to even _think_ about proposing to Natalia. Even if they'd been dating for two years.

Before leaving to meet Atanase and Natalia for lunch, Aleksandr decided to talk to Arthur about the charity contest. They were both in the back garden, grooming a couple of Sawsbuck. Fortunately, they were a lot more agreeable than the Furfrou…

"So… I'm sure you noticed Atanase came by this morning."

"Mh-hmm… I take it he's participating in the charity event?" Arthur guessed.

Aleksandr smiled a little bit, "Already guessed it, I see. It's for the ash and soot clean up around Fallarbor. Are you interested in going?"

Arthur sighed and thought about it while patting the Sawsbuck's nose. "I… don't know. I'm not sure how all the Pokémon would do by themselves."

"We've done it before. If we leave our Pokémon in charge, I'm sure it'll be fine. And we have two weeks."

"I suppose…" It still never sat well with him. Even knowing that their Pokémon were more than capable of managing the others for a few hours, it made him anxious. After settling with the idea, he told Aleksandr, "Alright, but only because it's for charity."

"I had a feeling. I'll let Atanase know at lunch. It'll be good for you to get out," Aleksandr said. He didn't leave the daycare very often himself, but Arthur only ever left if he had to. At least the contest was going to be calm in terms of crowd. Charity events didn't tend to appreciate rowdy crowds.

 **Okay, so there might be an assumption that Atanase is a coordinator. Kinda, but it's mostly a side thing and for charity. He's actually a model and actor while Natalia is a fashion designer.**


End file.
